Canadian Qaeda bomb plotter gets life in U.S. prison

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Canadian who admitted plotting to
bomb U.S. embassies in Singapore and the Philippines was
sentenced to life in prison on Friday after telling the court
he had been "brainwashed" by al Qaeda.

Mohammed Mansour Jabarah, a Canadian citizen of Iraqi
descent, was sentenced by a federal judge after pleading guilty
in July 2002 for his role in the disrupted bomb plots on orders
from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

He initially cooperated with U.S. authorities but the
relationship soured and he grew to mistrust them during four
years he was held in prison.

He was sentenced without a trial, based on his initial
guilty plea and court documents on the secret case were only
unsealed shortly before the sentencing.

"I do not believe in terrorism, violence and killing,"
Jabarah, 25, told U.S District Judge Barbara Jones, saying he
had been a "naive youth" who was indoctrinated by bin Laden and
other al Qaeda leaders.

"I was very unfortunately brainwashed," he said. "I was
very sadly deceived by them and they exploited and used me
maliciously."

The judge, noting that "actions speak louder than words,"
said although Jabarah had denounced al Qaeda and terrorism, he
was the moving force in the embassy plots.

"That was a decision that had to be made knowingly and
willfully and cannot be mitigated" by arguing "you were duped
into believing somehow killing innocent people could be right,"
she said.
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